Event chairs Grant and Lisa Wicklund with their children John and Victoria. (Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post)

“Some Enchanted Evening” was the theme for the annual Denver Heart Ball, and it was a night where 600 American Heart Association supporters could enjoy a taste of the tropics while raising money for programs supported by the organization’s Denver chapter.

A special treat was seeing first-hand how the dollars that they raise made a life-saving difference for a local family.

Colby Groom was 8 years old when he had the first of two bypass surgeries. He was battling a severely deformed bicuspid aortic heart value, which was prolapsing badly. He was small for this age, pale and always tired and often out of breath.

Research funded by the American Heart Association has advanced the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as Colby’s.

Colby is now 15 and a seasoned volunteer with the American Heart Association. He has raised money for heart research by helping his father, winemaker Daryl Groom, create a wine, Colby Red.

Grant Wicklund, president and chief executive officer of Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, and his wife, Lisa, chaired the 2014 Heart Ball. It was held at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center and raised $800,000.

7News reporter Dayle Cedars and Rick Crandall of KEZW Radio were the masters of ceremony. Great-West Financial was the presenting sponsor.

For the evening’s VIP supporters, the evening began with a reception in the Peaks Lounge on the hotel’s 27th floor. It was hosted by Bill Lindsay, president of the Lockton Companies Benefits Group; John Ikard, president/CEO of First Bank; Charlie Nelson, president of Great-West Financial Retirement Services, and Grant Wicklund.

The ballroom in which dinner was served was decorated in an “elegant Hawaiian” motif.

Guests started their meal with salads made from mixed organic greens, spiced candied pecans and pear bocconcino and dressed with sherry-garlic vinaigrette. The entree was herb and garlic marinated filet. Alternating desserts were Valrhona chocolate mousse served in a chocolate cup with winter red apple and raspberry ragout and vanilla sea-salted Black Forest cherry tart.